For husband & I I normally buy a 1-pound piece of salmon. Unless I'm using a specific recipe (like teriyaki, etc.) I place it in an oiled/greased baking dish, add a few pats of butter on top & some fresh or dried herbs & lemon slices, & bake it in a 350-degree oven for between 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the filet. I then insert a knife in the center to check for doneness. If it needs a few more minutes, so be it. Being a fatty fish, salmon is difficult to really overcook.

To be honest, I disagree with the poster who recommended cooking the salmon at a lower temp for less time in order to end up with a more thoroughly cooked piece of fish. That really doesn't make much sense.

it could be the oven, it could be the pan you are now using, it could be the placement in the oven (rack height)

try 375* to see if it cooks more evenly, or try the sear in a pan first method, or try broiling (I love salmon that way). The fish is useful even if you overcook a few pieces discovering your oven's new quirks. Salmon salad, salmon in a chowder, in eggs with spinach. So you won't be throwing it out.

IMO, over-cooking Salmon makes it tough.
We either pan-sear or poach ours.

DH does the pan-searing. He rubs the fish with olive oil, dusts with a little S&P, sprinkles with lemon juice, and sears skin side down in a skillet at medium/high. He does not turn them. They are done when you prick with a fork and the juice runs clear.

To poach, put in skillet with chicken broth and a splash of white wine. Place twigs of fresh rosemary in the broth, and slices of lemon on top. Poach on med/high for about 10 minutes. Use the same test as above to check doneness. I think you will like the results, as the fish comes out very tender and flaky without drying out.

can't help you with the time and temp, as i prefer my salmon medium rare to rare in the center. it's tough to screw that up.

but i agree with dave that dill goes well with salmon. try making a compound butter with chopped basil and dill. place dollops of it over a stem of dill atop the salmon, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. the butter melts down, spreading the flavors of the basil and dill, and helping to from a nice crust.

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Spring is finally here! I got so excited that I wet my plants...

For husband & I I normally buy a 1-pound piece of salmon. Unless I'm using a specific recipe (like teriyaki, etc.) I place it in an oiled/greased baking dish, add a few pats of butter on top & some fresh or dried herbs & lemon slices, & bake it in a 350-degree oven for between 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the filet. I then insert a knife in the center to check for doneness. If it needs a few more minutes, so be it. Being a fatty fish, salmon is difficult to really overcook.

To be honest, I disagree with the poster who recommended cooking the salmon at a lower temp for less time in order to end up with a more thoroughly cooked piece of fish. That really doesn't make much sense.

If you check my post it says to sear the fish in a pan and then bake. If you give the salmon a good sear on both sides it should come up to a medium rare and hold in juices. So 7 or 8 minutes at 350 degrees will give you well cooked fish. All i know for sure is i would not cook a filet at 400 i don't care how fatty the fish is.

Easton - keep in mind that "pan-searing" fish is meant to produce a fish that ends up rare to medium-rare. If you want your fish completely cooked thru, which is what I took from your original post, pan-searing might not be the way you want to go.

So, I think I'll try this pan searing method tomorrow but I'm not sure how to do it. Is it just cooking the salmon at a very high temperature? And for how long?

You can pan sear and then tent for about 10 - 15 minutes - even longer - and your fish will be perfect! Watch the fish turn color from the bottom up. When almost to the middle turn it over. Watch again. When it almost meets remove the fish and tent. I've left mine for as long as 30 minutes and it was still perfect and still warm.

IMO, fish is one of the most difficult things to cook properly. Most people overcook it... it becomes dry and almost inedible. I like the idea of slightly undercooking and then tenting to let it "rest" and continue cooking slowly as it rests. I've done a recipe for mahi mahi that called for about 425 for about 6 or 7 minutes... I can't find the recipe so I'm going by memory. The fish came out perfectly the one time I did it that way.

My oven is quite accurate, so most recipes work well for me, if they are correct in the first place...

For some fish, like tilapia, I don't care for baking it, as it tends to come out dry because it is hard to control a thin fillet like that. I will pan fry it without any coating in a small squirt of olive oil in a nonstick skillet... at medium heat it only takes about 2 minutes per side to be done perfectly.